Thoughts on first Celebrity Cruise

[sabookkeeper]

We have just returned from our first Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette, February 10, 2013 and we wanted to share some thoughts we have about this cruise.

 

Embarkation: We arrived at the pier at 11:00 am. DH dropped us off and the luggage and went to park. We were in Bistro on Five by 11:35 having lunch. There were a few snags – we were given the wrong person’s seapass cards initially. When boarding, we had to have the pictures taken again because they were not clear enough. These were minor problems and not enough to ruin an otherwise flawless boarding.

Food: We did traditional dining, late seating. We were pleased with the food and never thought about going to a specialty restaurant. We ordered a number of breakfasts from room service and ate on our balcony. They were always delivered on time and still hot. We did do breakfast a couple of times in the buffet with no complaints – I had waffles and DH had made to order omelettes. Bistro on Five was as good as everyone has reported it to be. It was well worth the $5.00 cover charge. Cafe Al Bacio turned out to be our favourite stop around 4:00 pm. We would have a coffee and a dessert to carry us over to dinner. We had the Premium Non-Alcohol Package so the cost of our coffee was included in the package. There was no charge for the desserts. The hamburgers and fries from the Mast Grill were also good.

Staff: We found all of the staff courteous and helpful. Our waiters Albert and Oleksii were great. We were travelling with a friend at the beginning of Alzheimers. She had problems making decisions on ordering and forgetting if she had ordered or not. They realized there was a problem and were very patient with her and once they knew what she liked, would give her one option which was easier than her having to choose between a number of dishes.

As I said above, we were in Cafe Al Bacio everyday and our server was Paulina. The second time we went, she remembered what kind of coffee we liked and after our second day always referred to us by our names, but very respectfully (Mr. Robert and Miss Darlene).

We did not have any problems with service even though we had drink packages. We went to the Ensemble Lounge every night for a drink before dinner. Ketut was usually our server and didn’t avoid serving us because he was not going to get a tip (we did tip him extra at the end of the cruise). We did not have problems in the other bars.

Lastly, our room steward was John. Our cabin was always cleaned promptly and if we saw him in the hallway he always acknowledged us. No complaints here.

Entertainment: We enjoyed the shows that we saw. The Silhouette Band was also good. As our son is a musician, we are always looking closely at the bands on board. I would say the weakest link in this band was the sax player while they were doing jazz numbers. The solo musicians were great..steel drum player, guitar players and Travis.

Labadee: We reserved an over the water cabana and it was worth the money spent on it. Our only complaint was the disorganization when we arrived. We met up with the Celebrity Rep and there was already about 15 people waiting. We ended up waiting ½ hour for our turn, because the trolley they were using could only carry 4 people. Our driver let us off at Barefoot Beach, but then we were told we needed to go to Nellie’s to be checked in. Our driver had already left so we would have had to wait again. Our attendant then stepped forward and had us signed in, we received our wrist bands and he got the driver back immediately and took us to our cabana. My problem is that I am paying $200 for this cabana and I don’t want to be wasting time standing around waiting for transportation – we couldn’t walk because of back problems it was too far for me. After we arrived at our cabana the remainder of the day was great and we would do this again.

Disembarkation: We waited until the last group to disembark. There was not a line up to get off the ship, but there was on the pier. We are very easy going, however, the disembarkation process is ridiculous. Up to this point, we had no complaints about our cruise. We will cruise Celebrity again, however, it will not be out of Ft. Lauderdale until they improve their disembarkation process.

Overall Cruise: Previously, we have only cruised on Princess so we were not sure if we would like Celebrity. We had a great time. The biggest difference we noticed was the presence of the officers in public venues. We were able to chat with quite a few of them at different times during the week. DH is a trainer at his job and happened to end up talking with the person who trains all of the Silhouette staff. Obviously they had a lot to talk about. I cannot sit in the sun, so the solarium was great for us. We never had any problems finding somewhere to sit. Early in the week we purchased an Open Passage Certificate because we knew we wanted to cruise on Celebrity again, but we already had our 2014 Princess cruise booked. By the end of the week, we decided to cancel our Princess cruise and booked on the Reflection for February 2014. We are very happy we tried Celebrity and now we have two favourite cruise lines.

This ended up being longer than I planned, but if you have any questions, we will try to answer them.

[tserface]

Great review. We were on Silhouette last year and we echo your thoughts about Paulina. We mentioned her specifically on our comment cards. She was a joy.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write down your thoughts!

 

Tom

[GeorgiaPeach51]

Nice review! We're sold on Celebrity; really enjoy the ships and the staff, the lack of smoking is big for us. Honestly, we gave up on Princess years ago because it seemed to be slipping a little more with each cruise we took, and once we discovered Celebrity and the lack of smoking, it was a no-brainer for us. Glad to see that you enjoyed your first Celebrity cruise!

[marieps]

Disembarkation on Silouette, as on Eclipse, has a lot to do with Terminal 25. It's a hole. Terminal 18 (Home to Equinox as it sails when Oasis and Allure are at sea) is much nicer. Knowing this, we did express disembarkation along with many others. A bit of a line to get off the ship...but zero hassle in the terminal. Should you choose to Express, you may be told to meet at Passport Bar on deck three. Do yourself a favor and cheat toward the midship stairs as you will go down to 2 to get off.

And get there well ahead of the 7:45 suggested time.

[prim8keeper]

Disembarkation on Silouette, as on Eclipse, has a lot to do with Terminal 25. It's a hole. Terminal 18 (Home to Equinox as it sails when Oasis and Allure are at sea) is much nicer. Knowing this, we did express disembarkation along with many others. A bit of a line to get off the ship...but zero hassle in the terminal. Should you choose to Express, you may be told to meet at Passport Bar on deck three. Do yourself a favor and cheat toward the midship stairs as you will go down to 2 to get off.

And get there well ahead of the 7:45 suggested time.

 

You are so right about this. We disembarked from Solstice to terminal 25 and it was a zoo all around. However, this past year we were on Equinox in terminal 18 and the lines moved really fast for the most part both on and off the ship.

[vickykay]

Thanks for your review. We board the Silhouette in two weeks and really looking forward to our cruise!

[sabookkeeper]

Great review. We were on Silhouette last year and we echo your thoughts about Paulina. We mentioned her specifically on our comment cards. She was a joy.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write down your thoughts!

 

Tom

We did mention her on the cards and also when DH was talking to the trainer, he made a point of mentioning Paulina and he did say that we were not the first customers who have been pleased with her service.

[sabookkeeper]

We did mention her on the cards and also when DH was talking to the trainer, he made a point of mentioning Paulina and he did say that we were not the first customers who have been pleased with her service.

I think the disembarkation problems is like the IT problems...Celebrity doesn't care about how many complaints they get, because people continue to sail with them.

[MicCanberra]

Great review, glad you enjoyed it and hope you have many more to come.:D

[miched]

You mentioned that the waiter in the Ensemble lounge didn't avoid you even though he knew that he wasn't getting a tip but you tipped him at the end.

 

How did you do that, were you able to cross the automatic 15% off?

 

 

.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thank you for your review and for comparing it a little to Princess. I'm a big fan of Princess, so I am hoping I won't be let down by Celebrity. Will be going with an open mind and appreciate your insight.

[xeena]

we are on the Silhouettes april 7 for our first celebrity cruise. We usually do HAL so it was nice to read your review....HAL seems to have slipped a bit each sailing....but maybe that is the way of things in the future....more $$ and less service.

[Happy2cruise]

Do you happen to know if the Silhouette had the Luggage Valet Service available...where they take your luggage, get your boarding passes and you don't see your luggage until your home airport.

 

Sailing on 3/17 and cannot get a constant answer from customer service....some say yes, some say maybe while others say no......very frustrating!!

 

Thanks.

[Texed]

Sabook,

Thanks for posting. :)

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Do you happen to know if the Silhouette had the Luggage Valet Service available...where they take your luggage, get your boarding passes and you don't see your luggage until your home airport.

 

Sailing on 3/17 and cannot get a constant answer from customer service....some say yes, some say maybe while others say no......very frustrating!!

 

Thanks.

 

Depends on what airline you're flying. Some participate, some don't. It's a great program, particularly in Ft. Lauderdale. You can find out for sure on the ship. You'll never get consistent answers from customer service.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Do you happen to know if the Silhouette had the Luggage Valet Service available...where they take your luggage, get your boarding passes and you don't see your luggage until your home airport.

 

Sailing on 3/17 and cannot get a constant answer from customer service....some say yes, some say maybe while others say no......very frustrating!!

 

Thanks.

 

Depends on what airline you're flying. Some participate, some don't. It's a great program, particularly in Ft. Lauderdale. You can find out for sure on the ship. You'll never get consistent answers from customer service.

[sabookkeeper]

I make up thank you cards to give cash tips to staff that we feel went above and beyond. Ketut was one of them. It was a cash tip and since we leave the gratuities in place, he is able to keep it.

[sabookkeeper]

Thank you for your review and for comparing it a little to Princess. I'm a big fan of Princess, so I am hoping I won't be let down by Celebrity. Will be going with an open mind and appreciate your insight.

I don't think you will be let down by sailing Celebrity. We were very nervous at first, but are definitely glad we gave it a try.

[sabookkeeper]

Do you happen to know if the Silhouette had the Luggage Valet Service available...where they take your luggage, get your boarding passes and you don't see your luggage until your home airport.

 

Sailing on 3/17 and cannot get a constant answer from customer service....some say yes, some say maybe while others say no......very frustrating!!

 

Thanks.

We drive to Florida so I'm not sure about the valet service.

[MicCanberra]

we are on the Silhouettes april 7 for our first celebrity cruise. We usually do HAL so it was nice to read your review....HAL seems to have slipped a bit each sailing....but maybe that is the way of things in the future....more $$ and less service.

Do not worry, if you go in with an open mind and I am sure you will enjoy the cruise. Some things will differ for both the better and worse but don't sweat it.:D

[xeena]

i am looking forward to exploring a new ship and a new line. can't wait for April 7.... the anticipation is just as much fun !

[gelo7]

Great review.